Interlace Communications

Category: Email Marketing

  • 20 Hooks for Small Business Saturday (Updated for Post Pandemic)

    20 Hooks for Small Business Saturday (Updated for Post Pandemic)

    Revitalizing Small Business Saturday: 20 Modern Hooks for a New Era

    (Blog Updates: We’ve reimagined our “20 Hooks for Small Business Saturday” to cater to the evolving consumer landscape. This updated guide infuses traditional tactics with digital innovation, emphasizing safety, convenience, and community. We hope you will find our modernized strategies that are a blend of the best of both worlds, ensuring your Small Business Saturday is a hit in the post-pandemic marketplace.)

    As we navigate the new normal, Small Business Saturday remains a beacon for local enterprises, symbolizing resilience and community spirit. With the landscape of retail forever changed, it’s crucial to adapt and innovate. Here are 20 refreshed strategies to make Small Business Saturday a triumph in the post-pandemic world.

    Digital Ideas

    1. Digital Thanksgiving Greetings: In the spirit of gratitude, craft heartfelt digital cards to thank your patrons. Embed a mystery discount code that piques interest and drives online traffic. This gesture not only shows appreciation but also integrates a sense of excitement and exclusivity, encouraging customers to engage with your brand online and discover their special offer, leading to increased anticipation and potential sales on Small Business Saturday.

    2. Virtual Scavenger Hunt: Engage customers with a virtual scavenger hunt that cleverly incorporates your product line into puzzles and riddles. Participants can navigate through your website, uncovering clues and learning about your offerings. This interactive journey culminates in discounts or special offers, rewarding their digital adventure and fostering a fun, memorable shopping experience that highlights your brand’s creativity and customer engagement.

    3. Collaborative Online Events: Capitalize on community strength by joining forces with neighboring businesses to host a virtual Small Business Saturday event. This collective effort can amplify your reach, share marketing resources, and create a comprehensive online shopping experience that celebrates the diversity and uniqueness of your local business community.

    4. Late-Night Virtual Sales: Replicate the thrill of midnight sales in the digital realm. Host a ‘Late Night Online Shopping Spree’ where discounts grow as the night progresses. This creates a sense of urgency and excitement, encouraging customers to stay engaged, share the event, and ultimately make more purchases as the deals get better throughout the evening.

    Print Ideas

    5. Direct Mail with a Digital Twist: Marry the charm of direct mail with the convenience of digital access. Send out postcards that carry a QR code, which when scanned, transport customers to a landing page with Small Business Saturday specials. This strategy not only drives online sales but also tracks the effectiveness of your direct mail campaign, offering valuable insights into customer engagement.

    6. Strategic Inserts: Utilize the broad reach of newspaper inserts to get your Small Business Saturday specials into thousands of homes. This method allows you to target specific localities and offers the tactile engagement of physical coupons, which many customers still appreciate and respond to.

    7. Remnant Space Deals: Keep an eye out for last-minute advertising space in local publications, often available at a significant discount. Be prepared with ad copy and a budget to snap up these deals, which can provide an unexpected but welcome boost to your Small Business Saturday marketing efforts.

    Social Media Ideas

    8. Facebook Live Shopping: Utilize the interactive platform of Facebook Live to bring the in-store experience to customers virtually. Showcase products, answer questions in real-time, and offer exclusive deals during the broadcast. This live interaction not only boosts engagement but also allows you to connect with customers on a personal level, enhancing their loyalty to your brand.

    9. Social Coupons: Transform traditional coupons into social media-friendly visuals. Encourage sharing by offering additional discounts for every share or like, turning your customers into brand ambassadors. This not only increases the reach of your promotions but also integrates a social proof element that can be more persuasive than traditional advertising.

    10. Themed Social Posts: Develop a series of themed social media posts that create a narrative leading up to Small Business Saturday. This could be a journey through your product lines, customer testimonials, or the story of your business’s role in the community. Scheduled posts ensure consistent engagement and build a story that culminates in your Small Business Saturday event.

    11. Interest-Specific Campaigns: Design email campaigns that cater to the specific interests of your customer segments. By addressing their unique preferences, you demonstrate an understanding of their needs, which can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. This targeted approach ensures that your messages resonate more deeply and can lead to higher engagement and sales.

    Website Ideas

    12. Website Countdown: Create anticipation with a dynamic countdown on your website that teases daily deals leading up to Small Business Saturday. This constant visual reminder keeps customers returning to your site, building momentum, and ensuring that when the big day arrives, your deals are at the forefront of their minds.

    13. Product Highlights: Showcase your flagship products with professional photos and engaging videos across your social platforms. Start conversations around these items and tease special offers available only on Small Business Saturday. This visual storytelling not only highlights your products but also creates shareable content that can extend your reach beyond your immediate followers.

    14. Exclusive Sign-Up Discounts: Encourage new customers to join your mailing list by offering a sign-up discount. This not only grows your email database but also gives customers an immediate reward. Tailor follow-up emails to introduce your brand’s story and values, leading to a deeper connection and increased likelihood of repeat business.

    Email Ideas

    15. Segmented Email Blasts: Craft targeted email campaigns for different segments of your audience based on their interests and past purchases. Personalized emails feel more relevant and can significantly increase engagement rates. Use this approach to highlight products that each segment is likely to be interested in, thereby increasing the chances of conversion.

    16. Social Sharing Incentives: Incentivize customers to share your emails on social media by offering them a discount on their next purchase. This not only increases the reach of your campaign but also leverages the power of word-of-mouth marketing. As friends and family see these shared emails, your brand gains credibility and potential new customers.

    17. Concise Subject Lines: In a world where inboxes are cluttered, a concise and catchy subject line can make all the difference. Aim for brevity and wit to grab attention and entice opens. Remember, the subject line is the first impression—make it count to ensure your email content gets the viewership it deserves.

    Other Ideas

    18. Charitable Incentives: Combine commerce with charity by offering discounts to customers who donate to a local cause. This not only incentivizes purchases but also builds a positive brand image. Customers feel good about their purchases, knowing they’re contributing to a worthy cause, and your business stands out as a community-conscious brand.

    19. Pop-Up Yard Signs: Use the simplicity of yard signs to catch the eye of passersby. Strategically place them in high-traffic areas with bold, readable fonts and a clear call-to-action. This old-school tactic can effectively drive local traffic to your online and physical storefronts, creating a buzz in the community.

    20. Digital Billboards: Adopt the billboard’s visual impact in your digital marketing. Create graphics that mimic billboards for use in online ads and social posts. These should be bold, straightforward, and create a sense of curiosity, much like the iconic road signs that entice travelers with promises of upcoming attractions.

    Ready to Ignite Your Small Business Saturday Sales?

    Transforming these ideas into reality requires creativity, precision, and a touch of marketing magic – that’s where we come in. At Interlace Communications, we specialize in crafting marketing strategies that resonate with your brand’s voice and your customers’ desires. Don’t let another Small Business Saturday pass by as just another day on the calendar. Make it a day that boosts your sales, builds your customer base, and elevates your brand.

    Whether you’re looking to captivate with digital greetings, engage with a virtual scavenger hunt, or create buzz with social media savvy, we have the expertise to bring these ideas to life. Our team is ready to help you personalize these strategies, ensuring they align perfectly with your business goals and customer expectations.

    Take the first step towards a record-breaking Small Business Saturday. Fill out the form below to get in touch with us. Let’s collaborate to make this Small Business Saturday not just successful, but spectacularly so. Your business deserves it, and so do your customers.

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    Connect with Us – Let’s Make Magic Happen

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    Need more resources to help you prepare for Small Business Saturday? Visit these websites, too.

     

  • How to Grow Your Email List

    How to Grow Your Email List

    Email is one of the best ways for your business to interact and market to customers and potential customers. That means for you, there should always be ideas and strategies in your mind to grow your email list. Do you know how to efficiently grow your email list though? We want to recommend a few ways that may help you increase your email list!

    There is a variety of ways to grow your email list through utilizing tools and assets available to you and at your disposal. Whether it be as simple as creating a sweepstakes, or branching out to new platforms.

    Your Website

    First of all, a great way to increase your list is by providing a sign up form on your website. You can even give them an extra nudge by offering them the chance to win a prize if they sign up or a percentage off their next purchase! Taking advantage of your own assets to grow your email list should be your first priority before diving into other methods.

    Promotions

    Next, you can create promotions that make users want to join! Before creating promotions, you should acknowledge what your potential customers want to see and who would be signing up. This includes creating sweepstakes users would want to join, activities they may enjoy such as a bracket, or the ability for them to share their opinions and answers with polls. This is an easy way to introduce new members into your email list, but you have to consider if they will stick around.

    Other Platforms

    Lastly, you should be using other platforms to attract people outside of your general audience. Social media has grown into a huge community, with billions of users spanning across the globe and across multiple different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. You should be sharing content on these platforms to attract more users to visit your website and sign up for your email blasts. On a similar note, make sure you track data and conduct various testing to see if the platform is worth it. If you continue to collect and analyze data, this can introduce new opportunities or diminish other ideas you had.

    Growing an email list a continued process and is a crucial way for you to keep in contact with your audience and reach out to prospective customers. Be patient. Give all your systems time. At first it may appear nothing is happening, don’t stop. Keep the systems in place and, as you come across new and different options set them up and try them as well. Also, improve some faults you may see on current systems, and keep going! If you need help to grow your email list or want additional clarification on any of the ideas shared, don’t hesitate to contact us!

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  • Photo & Image Tools To Use

    Photo & Image Tools To Use

    Picture Your Post…

    Tools to create a variety of posts

    When creating your marketing posts or presenting any content to possible customers, you want to be creative and ditch any bland or dry aspect. This should include adding lively photos to help spruce up content! With that said, we wanted to give you two options to choose from if you don’t know where to start. Although there are plenty of image tools online, we recommend you check these out before editing any pictures.

    Canva
    The first tool we want to share with you is Canva [canva.com] Canva has a plethora of capabilities and design possibilities for you to create. One great note about Canva is that it lets you create graphics for a variety of layouts, such as an Instagram post, a restaurant menu, an average presentation, and more! It gives you the ability to not only edit pictures, but use dozens of shapes and fonts to bring your design to life. Of course, it also adds the function to upload your own photos, too.

    Although you can use Canva for free, they have a pro option at $9.95 per month and an enterprise option at $30 per month. Essentially, the more expensive the payment, the more you have access to in regards to creatives and storage. If you’re interested, we encourage you to check out their website, which has plenty of information on how to use Canva, more in depth analysis of pricing options, and plenty of graphics to look at which were made on Canva itself!

    PicMonkey
    The next tool we want to share is PicMonkey [picmonkey.com] Picmonkey has more options editing techniques outside of graphic design, such as branding, events, and social media. Unfortunately, there is no free version available, but you can try a 7-day free trial! The basic version is $7.99 per month, pro is $12.99 per month, and the team version is $33.99 per month. The best part is that many imagery tools aren’t only for professionals, and the same is said for PicMonkey!

    On their website, you can find dozens of tutorials, tips, and advice to help you grow your business and improve the quality of your posts. From the most general of questions, to the very specifics, you can find a multitude of information within their community of users. Don’t let the price scare you away!

    These two tools are some of the most creative, helpful and explorative image tools when it comes to learning how to edit photos and introducing your own style. Users love flare and with both of these tools you can learn, in depth, how to use them and what possibilities you have at hand. If you have questions about these tools or need our help with marketing purposes, give us a call, we’re always here to help!

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    Interested in more Creatives Assistance? Get your copy of our Creative Assets Handbook! It is full of information for creating posts and images!

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  • The Importance of a Subject Line for Email Campaigns

    The Importance of a Subject Line for Email Campaigns

    That’s it!

    Three to Five Words

    When working on creating an email to send to customers, one of the most important parts of the email is the subject line. You need to think about how to engage with your audience to encourage them to open it? Most times, this most important part of an email is overlooked and all the focus is placed on the message within your email.

    Are you curious as to why we make this statement?

    We’ll let you in on some information to help you realize why the subject line can be considered the most important part of your email and how to create them.

    First, what do you think your recipients of your emails will notice right off the bat when receiving your emails? The parts of an email that land in your inbox and can be seen are: the sender of the email, the subject line, and the preheader. The subject line should provide a minimally worded phrase as to what the email contains. It should be interesting enough for a person to want to open it. Also, such as the little brother of the subject line, the preheader is presented to help support it. When typing up your email you definitely don’t want to overlook these two crucial parts.

    One rule we follow here at Interlace Communications is ‘The Rule of 3.” The first three words in your subject line should be riveting enough to push an individual to open the email. If you use a boring line that you may use several times such as “Our Monthly Newsletter,” the recipient is likely to trash it. Remember, although you want a compelling subject line, don’t make it too long. Often, the user will be viewing their inbox on a mobile device, which pushes you to find that “short and sweet” phrase.

    If the individual isn’t convinced enough to open the email already, they will read the preheader to gain further insight. Although it acts as a little brother, it’s important to help clarify what’s contained inside the email. However, don’t summarize the email entirely. Remember, you shouldn’t simply copy and paste the subject line or change out a few words. Create a preheader that works together with the subject line to push them to open it.

    You can even ask a few family members, friends, or coworkers what they do when checking their inbox. It may seem like a small part, but you’d be surprised to hear how many may check the subject line and come to a decision of reading or trashing it right then and there. If you have any more questions about email marketing or need help creating impactful email templates, contact us today!

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  • What Email Marketing Platform Should I Choose?

    What Email Marketing Platform Should I Choose?

    Eeny, meeny, miny, moe —
    Which one stays and which ones go?

    Email marketing is one of the main ways to communicate with customers and to increase the number of users who reach your site and use your services. With more users gaining access to the internet daily, you want to take advantage of email marketing. There are a multitude of platforms you can use and they each offer a variety of benefits for reaching out to your customers.

    Each email platform may include similar or different features and tools when comparing one another. With our past experience, we want to focus on three that we consider effective, with plenty of features and benefits you can use to help market to customers.

    Constant Contact

    Here at Interlace Communications, we have a certified solutions provider for Constant Contact on staff. Constant Contact allows easy functionality to help you reach a wider audience. Their pricing is based on the amount of contacts you have as well as the additional features you would like to add. The minimal price to start is only $20/month and has simple and easy actions to help grow your email audience.

    Constant Contact also includes exclusive features such as event marketing, social media marketing, and surveys, These additional features help you reach a much wider audience that may be on other online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. If you’re new to email marketing, Constant Contact is well known to be beginner friendly. They also have mobile capabilities, automation to add individuals to your email list, tracking your emails, and much more! If you’re interested in learning more about Constant Contact give us a call at 484-709-6564.

    Mailchimp

    Mailchimp is a cloud-based email solution. This platform works to centralize your marketing needs in one place and to help focus on the audience at hand. When dealing with email marketing, you want to analyze your data and use this to fine-tune your email messages so it appeals to future customers. MailChimp is a great all-in-one tool to use to grow and progress. The ability to promote your business on a platform that connects to other platforms helps grow your email marketing. Mailchimp is great for those just starting out because they do offer a free version. Keep in mind the free version is limited but maybe what you need to get started! If you would like to discuss Mailchimp further, contact us today.

    Robly

    Robly is an innovator in using AI software to help boost your email marketing audience. It also includes an exclusive feature of photo editing. The AI they use has separate functions that help deliver your email to your audience at the time they normally check their mail. This is so the email isn’t ignored and buried upon dozens of others. The other technology used, OpenGen, allows you to resend an email if it wasn’t viewed the first time. This is a great tool as it helps your open rate increase. They also provide helpful tools to share your emails on social media and how to fine tune the appearance for mobile users. If you’re interested in learning more about Robly or want to sign up, contact us today.

    These three aren’t the only email platforms available for usage, but we highly recommend to check these out first. Whether you’re new to email marketing or have been doing it for some time now, these platforms provide efficient and helpful ways to increase the number of individuals who open your emails. If you need any help, you can contact us. We are here to help you make the best decision for your email needs!

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  • Automate Your Engagement Funnel

    Automate Your Engagement Funnel

    Needless to say, to create an engagement funnel requires a strategic plan to determine the funnels and what will be offered to further engage with them and eventually do business with you. A good email marketing system is necessary to make this all work.

    Ask yourself these questions:

    What is the goal of my email and how do I want them to engage? Think of three different needs your clients have to use your product or service. Within the email provide them the ability to choose which one makes sense for them.

    Next, make certain when they have engaged with you, you are able to deliver something that provides added value. Allow me to expound on that thought. We work with a franchise company whose vertical is coffee shops. For them when a person discovers them online, they want them to learn about their business model and to become a business owner of their franchise. We have the goal, now let’s look at what they might want to know more about.

    Let’s take you down one of the three funnels.

    My favorite one is How much does it cost

    For this page they could go into detail on what the various investments and expenses are involved with owning a coffee business. Their added value item from this could be a worksheet for them to use to calculate their own expenses.

    What could follow as subsequent emails
    to this subject to engage with them going forward might be:

                            • Ideal credit score and how to improve theirs.
                            • Where to find funding for their Coffee Business
                            • How to get started

    What if they lose interest in this subject?

    Take them down another path by offering them another three choices and an added value item. Make sure that one of the three choices is still within the wheelhouse of what was their initial choice.

    Do this until one of three things happens:

                            1. They decide to get started and contact you
                            2. They refuse to engage
                            3. They opt-out of your engagement funnel.

    Do not overwhelm them with too many emails. These two steps could deliver an email each day for 2 to 3 weeks. If they aren’t engaging and they didn’t opt-out. Engage with them once a month after the initial engagement funnel campaigns. Keep yourself top-of-mind.

    We hope you have found this article to be helpful in creating your own engagement funnel. If you want to learn more about email marketing, we can help you with that!

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  • The Power of Words Through Blog Writing

    The Power of Words Through Blog Writing

    Hello and thank you for joining us to learn more about how to blog effectively to help your business be found in Google searches.

    Let’s first review the article which led you here.

    First, did you watch the YouTube video we mentioned in the article?

    Power of Words by Purple Feather Media. If you didn’t, please do.

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU .

    Next, did you purchase the book “They Ask You Answer” by Marcus Sheridan? Please do that as well. I was fortunate to be able to attend his two-day class. I make no royalties in recommending either one of these to you. Just the satisfaction of knowing you will learn some very important facts about inbound marketing.

    So how do you go about discovering what questions to write about?

    Ask Google.

    Some of you might be saying, I have no idea what questions people are asking.

    So here are the steps:

    1. Write down a list of your products or services you offer. Let’s use our business for example.
      1. Website Design
      2. Blog Management
      3. Social Media Marketing
      4. Digital Marketing
      5. Email Marketing
      6. Direct Mail
      7. Logo Design
    2. Do a search on Google with just these three words and the service or product you have.
      1. how
      2. what
      3. should

    See the results of these three searches. Google provides actual searches people have done using these three words.

    What you see in the first search of “What Logo Design” is the following:

    First is a paid ad for logojoy.com. They are serious about being found for searches like this and are willing to pony up some money for the search.

    Me…

    I’d rather write a blog and attract people to my website.

    power of words, ask google, blogging

     

    So, what is in this search that will provide you with the titles for your blogs?

     

     

     

     

    Below LogoBee you see a section in the search entitled:

     

     

    People also ask. That’s where the gold is. You will find your titles there. But what if there isn’t anything that makes sense to write a blog about for your business? Let’s move onto the next series of screenshots.

     

    So what if there isn’t anything in these suggestions that will work for your business?

    If you click on the last suggestion’s down arrow and close the window, Google will provide more choices. Nothing there that you like? Continue to click on the down arrow and close the window and Google will continue to provide even more suggestions.

    See what I mean with these three screenshots.

    Interested in learning about our blog writing service? Contact us today.

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